This paper considers place as a category of analysis. As nursing as a practice discipline and the history of nursing as a field of scholarship both enter a more self-consciously global arena and scholars are moving beyond the nation and the nation-state as the primary context for historical inquiry. At the same time, the work of nursing is, has been, and always will be a very private and intimate act. This paper considers two challenges to those interested in exploring how the history of nursing might consider this juxtaposition of the global and the local. The first is conceptual and considers ways to more systematically mine national studies of the history of nursing. The second is structural and explores how we can build a body of scholarship and cadre of scholars that cut across conventional linguistic and cultural boundaries and create a vibrant community of discussion and dialogue.
History of nursing; Nursing theory; Internationality